Top Items:
Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
EXCLUSIVE: Dems ‘Almost Certain’ to Bypass Conference — Now that both the House and Senate have passed health care reform bills, all Democrats have to do is work out a compromise between the two versions. And it appears they're not about to let the Republicans gum up the works again.
Discussion:
Sunlight Foundation, CBS News, The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Note, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, Guardian, Don Surber, Booman Tribune, Ezra Klein, TPMDC, AmSpecBlog, Congress Matters, Open Left, The Moderate Voice, The Corner on National …, Another Black Conservative, PoliBlog, Dr. Melissa Clouthier, msnbc.com, Michelle Malkin, Bloomberg, odd time signatures, Open Congress, The Foundry, Newsweek Blogs, New Mexico Independent, Washington Monthly, Jules Crittenden, The Lonely Conservative, TalkLeft, The Page, Think Progress, Riehl World View and Hotline On Call
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Top House Liberal Rips Dem Plan To Skip Conference To Pass Health Care — Uh oh. Looks like the Dem leadership's plan to quickly pass health care reform by skipping House-Senate conference negotiations has further alienated House liberals — a potential problem, since liberal support …
David Dayen / Firedoglake:
House-Senate Health Care “Conference” Begins; PhRMA Deal Targeted — Rep. Waxman not yet willing to swallow the bitter ones? (photo: nvinacco) — Henry Waxman, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, announced at a constituent meeting Sunday that he was headed to Washington today …
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Inside Obama's War on Terrorism — The evening before he was sworn into office, Barack Obama stepped out of Blair House, the government residence where he was staying across from the White House, and climbed into an armored limousine for the ride to a bipartisan dinner.
Discussion:
The Fix, CBS News, The Swamp, Main Justice, Brookings Institute, Michael Calderone's Blog, NY Daily News, Think Progress, Associated Press, The Politico, Raw Story, ATTACKERMAN, The Huffington Post, Swampland, Mediaite, Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Strata-Sphere, Democracy in America, National Review Online, The New Republic, Media Blog on National …, The Washington Independent and The Page
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Former Bush Officials Refusing to Endorse Policies They Support Out of Pique — Peter Baker's article on John Brennan and Obama-era counterterrorism is pretty conventional “friendly profile of important government official” stuff. But this is a good break with convention that more reporters should engage in:
Jessica Kutch / SEIU:
Hell Freezes Over: Rush Limbaugh Loves Union Hospitals and Socialized Medicine — Over the past year of Obama's presidency, conservative blowhard Rush Limbaugh has routinely mocked, distorted and even invented various health insurance reform proposals before Congress.
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Aaron Blake / The Hill:
Staff walks out on party-switcher Griffith — Rep. Parker Griffith's (Ala.) staff has resigned en masse after his recent decision to switch parties and become a Republican. — In a sternly worded statement, Griffith Chief of Staff Sharon Wheeler announced the exit of herself …
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msnbc.com:
Al-Qaida double-agent killed CIA officers — Officials: Perpetrator of Afghan attack was supposed to infiltrate al-Qaida — The suicide bombing on a CIA base in Afghanistan last week was carried out by a Jordanian doctor who was an al-Qaida double-agent, Western intelligence officials told NBC News.
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BBC:
‘Missing arms spark Yemen alert’ — The closure of three embassies in Yemen followed local security forces losing track of six trucks full of arms and explosives, say reports from Yemen. — France announced its mission in the capital Sanaa was shut on Monday, a day after the US and UK closed theirs.
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Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
Obama aide defends trial for suspect in Christmas Day attempt to bomb plane
Obama aide defends trial for suspect in Christmas Day attempt to bomb plane
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Cato @ Liberty, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Media Matters for America, Big Government, ABCNEWS, Washington Examiner, The Corner on National …, Fox News, neo-neocon, Washington Monthly, USA Today, MLive.com, The Note, Washington Times, Fausta's Blog, AMERICAblog News and msnbc.com
Andy Birkey / Minnesota Independent:
Quist: Defeating liberals a bigger battle than defeating terrorism — Allen Quist, a Republican who is seeking to defeat Rep. Tim Walz in southern Minnesota's First Congressional District, told attendees of the Wabasha County Republicans Christmas Party in mid-December that beating the …
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Jerry Markon / Washington Post:
Appeals court upholds Moussaoui's conviction, life prison term — A federal appeals court on Monday upheld the conviction and life prison term of Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person convicted in a U.S. court in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
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David Weigel / The Washington Independent:
‘N-Word’ Sign Dogs Would-Be Tea Party Leader — Dale Robertson, a Tea Party activist who operates TeaParty.org, is getting stung for an old photo — taken at the Feb. 27, 2009 Tea Party in Houston — in which he holds a sign reading “Congress = Slaveowner, Taxpayer = Niggar.”
Jeffrey Gettleman / New York Times:
U.S. Evangelicals' Role Seen in Uganda Anti-Gay Push — KAMPALA, Uganda — Last March, three American evangelical Christians, whose teachings about “curing” homosexuals have been widely discredited in the United States, arrived here in Uganda's capital to give a series of talks.
Agence France Presse:
New US flight checks ‘discriminate against Nigeria’ — Buzz up! — ABUJA (AFP) - Nigeria, home of the failed US plane bomber, Monday branded new security measures for passengers flying to the United States unfair and said they amounted to discrimination against its 150 million people.
Discussion:
Hot Air
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CNN:
Two shot at Las Vegas courthouse — (CNN) — Two federal personnel were shot, one fatally, Monday in the lobby of a federal courthouse building in Las Vegas, Nevada, federal officials said. — “A deputy U.S. marshal and court security officer were shot at the Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse …
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Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Rep. King rethinking Senate run — Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) signaled Monday that he is reconsidering his decision not to run for Senate in 2010. — King said he's actively looking at a run for statewide office this year after he'd ruled out such a campaign last summer.
Political Punch:
President Obama Names Transgender Appointee to Commerce Department — President Obama recently named Amanda Simpson to be a Senior Technical Advisor to the Commerce Department. — In a statement, Simpson, a member of the National Center for Transgender Equality's board of directors …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Mediaite, Box Turtle Bulletin, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Politics Daily and Atlas Shrugs
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
That 1937 Feeling — Here's what's coming in economic news: The next employment report could show the economy adding jobs for the first time in two years. The next G.D.P. report is likely to show solid growth in late 2009. There will be lots of bullish commentary …
Ronald Kessler / NewsMax.com:
Secret Service Let Third Intruder Into White House — Michaele and Tareq Salahi were not the only uninvited guests at the White House state dinner in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. — At the last minute, someone from the Indian diplomatic delegation invited a man to attend …
Discussion:
Political Punch, The Caucus, NewsReal Blog, The Lonely Conservative, Hot Air and Mediaite
Hendrik Hertzberg / New Yorker:
UM, PATHETIC — “All violent feelings have the same effect,” John Ruskin wrote, in one of his most famous essays. “They produce in us a falseness in all our impressions of external things, which I would generally characterize as the ‘Pathetic Fallacy.’ ” Ruskin published “Of the Pathetic Fallacy” …
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Republican retirements mount in House — The decision by South Carolina Rep. Henry Brown to retire brings Republican retirements to 14, a number that, if it continues to rise in the coming months, could curtail the expected GOP gains in the House in November.
Discussion:
The Palmetto Scoop, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Eye on 2010, MyDD, TPMDC, National Review Online, Hotline On Call and The Politico
Umar Lee:
Thoughts on the Underwear Bomber and the Aftermath — Obama has went where the Bush Administration never fully went; the explicit profiling of Muslim passengers. Granted there was kind of an unspoken rule during the Bush Administration but now it has gone further. What are my thoughts?
Curt Schilling / 38 Pitches:
Rarely does it ever feel like... We can truly make a difference. January 19th, here in Massachusetts, that can all change. — Scott Brown is going to provide this state with the once in a lifetime chance to change this country forever. — I won't get into specifics, since if this matters you already know them.
Discussion:
The Politico, Boston Globe, msnbc.com, Weekly Standard, National Review Online, Pundit & Pundette, Scorecard's Blog and The Hill
David Gibson / Politics Daily:
Brit Hume: Jesus Can Tame You, Tiger — For Americans who are both political junkies and faithful churchgoers (guilty as charged), Sunday mornings can mean a painful choice between watching the Sunday talk shows for scoops (or gaffes) from newsmakers, or attending services to meditate on the wisdom of ancient scripture and tradition.
David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Notes on the Obama Disconnect — Not the change we organized for? — I see that my colleague bmaz referenced a post I wrote about a year ago back at Digby's place, about how Obama the candidate was consolidating structures within the progressive movement — field, voter registration …